§ Mr. Gordon PrenticeTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many parents without care and control have been assessed by the CSA as having arrears in excess of £15,000. [16917]
§ Mr. Keith BradleyWe expect the Child Support Agency to provide an efficient and effective service to all its clients throughout the child support assessment process. We are looking for substantial and sustained operational improvements from the Agency, in particular on getting more maintenance paid, reducing the backlog and improving customer service.
The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the Chief Executive, Mrs. Faith Boardman. She will write to the hon. Member.
Letter from Faith Boardman to Mr. Gordon Prentice, dated 5 December 1997:
I am replying to your Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security about the number of parents without care (normally known as absent parents) that have maintenance outstanding in excess of £15,000.The number of maintenance assessments completed and recorded on the Child Support Computer System currently stands at approximately 679,000; at 19 November 1997, the total number of cases with more than £15,000 of maintenance arrears outstanding was 18,890.In 90% of these cases (16,912), the arrears recorded as outstanding are the result of a Category A interim maintenance assessment. This measure, which sets maintenance at a punitive rate for absent parents who fail to co-operate, is imposed until the Agency is provided with the information needed to complete a full maintenance assessment. The Agency issued many interim maintenance assessments in its first two years—73,303 in 93/94. The emphasis now is to encourage absent parents to co-operate early and therefore avoid building up excessive maintenance arrears; the number of interim maintenance assessments has now greatly reduced to 11,718 in 1996/97.From April 1995 regulations were changed, so that the liability under an interim maintenance assessment reverts to the level of the full maintenance assessment once the absent parent co-operates; once sufficient information is provided to complete a full maintenance assessment in the interim maintenance cases the amount of arrears actually owed will be considerably reduced.I hope this is helpful.